Record and controversies

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Environmental record

In October 2006, Alexander became swept up in the Mark Foley page scandal. Alexander was the sponsor of a sixteen-year-old congressional page with whom Foley engaged in “over-friendly” email correspondence in 2005. After Foley resigned amid the revelation of both the emails and sexually suggestive instant message conversations with pages, Alexander was pressured to disclose when he first knew of the emails and what action he took in response. He claimed to have contacted the office of House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), who directed him to the Clerk of the House. He also acknowledged notifying Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.), chairman of the National Republican Campaign Committee, about the emails in the spring of 2006.

Office sued for sexual harassment

In October 2006, a former staffer, Elizabeth Scott, filed a lawsuit claiming that she had been sexually harassed by Alexander's chief of staff, Royal Alexander (no relation to the congressman). Scott claimed she was subjected to inappropriate sex-based comments, ogling, touching and sexual advances and was demoted by Royal Alexander after voicing her concerns. Rep. Alexander's office denied any wrongdoing and stated that Scott had only filed her complaint after being demoted by Alexander for performance issues. [1]

Bio

Background

Rodney Alexander was born December 5, 1946, in Bienville, Louisiana. He graduated from Jonesboro-Hodge High School, Jonesboro, Louisiana, and attended Louisiana Technical College, Ruston, Louisiana, but dropped out. He is an insurance agent and businessman. While a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1987 to 2002, Alexander served as Chairman of the House Health and Welfare Committee. He won a runoff election for the U.S. House on December 7, 2002.

Congressional Career

Alexander is "pro-life and pro-2nd Amendment and serves as a conservative voice in Congress." [2]

On August 6, 2004, Alexander decided to switch parties and ran for reelection as a Republican. He had been elected in 2002 as a Democrat. Two days after having filed for reelection as a Democrat, Alexander filed as a Republican on the very last day of filing, fifteen minutes before the deadline. On August 13, 2004, a Louisiana voter filed suit to disqualify Alexander, citing a section of Louisiana election code that appeared to prohibit a candidate from changing his or her party affiliation after initially qualifying. On August 23, 2004, a state judge ordered filing reopened in Alexander's district, and required Alexander to refile if he wanted to run again. However, a week later, a state appeals court threw out that ruling, saying the lower court went too far. This decision all but assured Alexander's reelection, as the Democrats had no time to find a credible replacement candidate.

Committees: House Committee on Appropriations, House Committee on Appropriations/Subcommittee on Agriculture Rural Development Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies, House Committee on Appropriations/Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, House Committee on Budget